We would never have that discussion about Valen and the rangers, because he had left the next day. But word of the rangers did come up shortly afterwards. It was year since then, but apparently after King Heron’s assassination, a dispute between the heir came up. The king himself had no heir, so Lord Durall, from Candlesrock, tried to lay claim to the throne, being his next of kin. He was a second-cousin, but still... General Warwick, the late king’s commander did not deem Lord Durall suitable for the crown. Instead, he blames the assassination on the rangers, since there was an arrow found on the king’s body. The rangers, whether people believe they existed or not, made it clear that they were not going to take the blame.
Now Lord Durall was threatening to secede from Andurovia. He wanted to form the Durovian League in order to protect the rangers, real or not. Durall and his allies met at his hold in Hurstings. At the same time, General Warwick locked down the capital of Mentings, in order to protect the succession of the throne against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Finally, Warwick branded the rangers traitors and murderers of the king. Durall and his entourage seceded from Andurovia, forming the Durovian League. Crossroads was not yet part of the Durovian League, but it was not very much affiliated with Mentings in the Southeast.
A year passed by and the Durovian League looked to acquire Crossroads to its numbers. Orin Daunderfell did his best to try to mediate between the two groups, but General Warwick had had enough. He then called for the Reunification of Andurovia. This campaign would be led by Warwick and the Andoan regime, named after the mountainous region of Andoa in the Southeast of Andurovia.
By now, the Andurovia was an old word, lost to a civil war that was threatening to destroy the nation from within. People in Crossroads began arguing amongst each other. Individuals would side in favor or family members that lived in one region or another. Neighbors became bitter enemies. Again, Orin Daunderfell did what he could to keep the people together. But the peace would not last.
While riots would spew out regularly in Crossroads, something would change the civil war. From Ravensfell, a call was made. The rangers had resurfaced, calling out the Ranger Gathering. It was a very old, very sacred rally, used when the ranger way of life was threatened. A couple of rangers had come to Crossroads recently, trying to gather all available young children to join the rangers in Ravensfell. Maybe this was my calling, the start to my adventure. I had been curious about Rangers for some time, but if I were to join the rangers, I would have to deal with Valen. Possibly, at least.
Not too long, General Warwick calls for the Great Draft, which forces all able-bodied men and older boys to take up arms in defense of the crown. The Daunderfells are worried about their son, Thomas, becoming of age for the Great Draft. By law, he must submit his son to the authority of the Andoan Regime Army, no longer the Royal Andurovian Army.
With Crossroads divided between itself, work at the stables has come to a complete standstill. I had more free time and I was older, already 12. I was old enough to join the rangers, but not old enough to join the army. I didn’t even want to join them anyway, but if I wanted to keep myself busy, I would have to take a side. I decided I would have to talk about it with Orin Daunderfell, so I headed to his home.
I crossed through town, taking the usual route. The state of the streets and the buildings had dramatically fallen since the rioting and infighting. This civil war affected everyone, even the little baker on Drury Lane. I think he made muffins. Unfortunately, I never had the coin, nor time, to try them. And now that he was a very outspoken supporter of the Andoan Regime, he wouldn’t serve anyone who either didn’t support them or was on the fence in the whole situation.
Luckily, the people still gave way to the rampant boy on the horse. The rider may have been small, but the horse was not so small. The ride took longer than it usually did, but I managed to get there just as another riot broke out. That would make the ride home a bit harder, but I would need to worry about that later.
